William Samuel Symonds (13 December 1818 – 15 September 1887) was an English cleric, geologist and author.
[1] Having taken holy orders he was appointed curate of Offenham, near Evesham in 1843, and two years later he was presented to the living of Pendock in Worcestershire, the advowson of which, together with the lordship of the manor, had been bought by his grandfather, Samuel Beale of Upton-on-Severn.
While at Offenham he became acquainted with HE Strickland and from him developed an interest in natural history and geology, which consumed him from that point.
He was the author of numerous essays on the geology of the Malvern country, notably of a paper "On the passage-beds from the Upper Silurian rocks into the Lower Old Red Sandstone at Ledbury" (Quart.
In 1869, Charlotte Eyton dedicated her book on the geology of North Shropshire to Symonds, acknowledging his encouragement, assistance and suggestions.